Hi Everybody,

I have a foursome that is interested in playing a few courses around the Mississippi Gulf Coast and would input on which ones which be the best. What we are looking for:

* Good layout
* Good conditioning
* Good greens

I am looking forward to hearing everybody's opinions.

Thanks,

Victor

Hey, I'm from the coast and can help ya out, what's your price range? There are quite a few nice courses down here, The Oaks, The Bridges, Grand Bear, Fallen Oak, Shell Landing, The Preserve, two courses in Diamondhead, Sunkist country club, Windance, just to name a few. The two diamondhead courses are my home course so to speak, besides that I've played the oaks, bridges, grand bear, and sunkist. My top choice would be either grand bear or the bridges of the one's I've played. However, I have heard great things about Fallen Oak, Shell Landing, and The preserve. Fallen Oaks requires a stay at the Beau Rivage to get a tee time, and from what I hear this place pampers you to the max, there are also caddies; from what I hear be prepared to tip a lot here plus the high green fees. Grand Bear is an awesome course, set in the middle of the woods, along the pearl river, it was designed by Nicklaus and is very enjoyable, with a great clubhouse and bar for afterwards. The Bridges is a Palmer designed course which is also a lot of fun, it's pretty tight and pretty challenging to me (18 hcpr), it is set on Bay St. Louis with marsh scattered throughout. The oaks is nice, imho not on the level of Grand Bear or the Bridges, but wouldn't be a bad backup, however if I'm not mistaken the green's have been having some problems lately so you may wanna check that out beforehand. Diamondhead has 2 nice courses (Cardinal and Pine), about the same level as the Oaks, but if you want to play 36 holes in one day this would probably be the easiest place to do it.

Hopefully this long winded bit helps ya out, let me know if anything is confusing or needs clarifaction. P.M. me if you need anything else.

Thanks
Chris

If you can play only one round, I would suggest The Grand Bear. If you can play two rounds, play the Bear twice.

grand bear is a great course as is the preserve. the oaks is a fun layout but i havent been there in a while and couldnt tell you the condition but i know the have a deal going on where a 4some can play for $25 a person. if you feel like staying at the beau and paying $300 for a round then play fallen oak, i think it was the #1 rated course in the state. the bridges is another fun course. sunkist is my home course and it is a fun layout and in decent shape. shell landing is a davis love III design that is usually in good shape with a great layout.

blaird hit it on the head. Also if you are willing to drive and hour you could play several of the courses in Hattiesburg as well. Canebrake is awesome. If your looking for a fun layout Mississippi National is always fun to me, however havent been there in a while and not sure of the condition.

One of my favorite golf courses is in Mississippi, The Grand Bear. Shell Landing is a solid choice as well.

I use to live on the coast and I miss the golf selection.

Fallen Oaks is supposed to be really nice if you can afford it and stay at the Beau like mentioned above. To me that is just not what I want to pay for.

The Perserve is also supposed to be very nice althoug hI have not played it

Grand Bear was the best down there for a long time and I would say it is either #1 or #2 as one of the courses above may have over taken it a little but it is still a great corse.

My altime favorite is Shell Landing. It is a Davis Love III designed course and I really like it and it is a little cheaper than Grand Bear the last time I played down there.

After those I would say The Bridges in Bay St Louis. It is a neat course and it aint named the bridges for nothing! I also really enjoyed playing the two diamondhead courses down there.

The Oaks is nice but it has seen it better days. used to have some nike tour play there but it has gone down hill. I was told it went bankrupt or was close and someone bought it. Maybe it is back but I think it is iffy.

I would say:

Grand Bear
Shell Landing
The Bridges

in that order and if you want to try one of the new courses and spend more money then that is cool but I am not sure it can get much better than the Bear

T

#1 Fallen Oak
#2 Grand Bear
# Shell Landing, a bit of a fall off from the first two but still nice.

Went to Biloxi for the 4th of July and played the preserve. Was a very very nice course, great layout and awesome greens(probablly rolled about 11ish). Customer service was awesome, everyone was really nice. Best thing was when I walked through the door there was balloons all over the floor, went to the desk to check in and pay, the guy told me to pop a balloon and I get the discount off greens fees that day. I popped one and got 50% off, so I only paid like 50 to play that day. I would not hesitate to go back and play this course for full price. I was staying at the IP casino and this course was only about a 15 minute drive from there. If you get a chance check it out.